How Concerned Should I Be About An IoT Attack?

Tech Insights

This video made by Cisco does an incredible job of showing how the Internet of Things (IoT) based attacks are already a reality in the business environment. The Internet of Things is changing our culture. For us to see innovations in medical care, manufacturing, and utility services, we have to adjust to this new way of operating a business and ensure our networks remain safe from attacks. A new Gartner (the world’s leading research and advisory company) survey reveals that almost 20 percent of organizations have experienced one or more IoT-based attacks in just the last three years. Also, they are predicting that global spending on IoT security will reach $1.5 billion in 2018, a 28 percent increase from 2017.

Who Needs to Defend Themselves from an IoT Attack?

Finance Industry

The rapid-paced world of finance has encompassed the digital revolution. Banks, investors, and financial institutions of all kinds track current market conditions and command precise, up to the minute data. Through IoT, the financial industry will link and grasp the buying performance of clients. IoT technologies will provide the financial market with real-time analytics to push a more significant revenue stream.

The Risk

Since the end goal for cyber-attacks is money, the finance industry is the apparent leading target for cyber villains. Financial institutions are a top target for ransomware attacks. Smart devices offer tremendous potential for finance with instant access to customer data, but IoT devices are a blind spot that exposes financial companies to easy unlawful access.

Financial organizations are stringently regulated, and they have to meet an assortment of regulatory and compliance standards. For a company to provide satisfactory protection of IoT devices, businesses need full asset discovery for all their devices on all of their networks. They also need an ability to keep track of the behavior and monitor the connections made by those IoT devices.

The Solution

It’s crucial for financial institutions to have a service that gives them instant protection of IoT. Their devices must connect safely to the network, and they need a system that monitors the activity and exchanges of these devices. Being able to automatically identify erratic behavior or suspicious connections will ensure that the companies remain secure and compliant.

Healthcare

Gartner Research states that 25% of healthcare attacks will initiate from IoT devices by 2020. And over 70% of hospitals now report that security risks around connected medical devices are their biggest concern.

The Risk

With the arrival of the Internet of Things age, the healthcare industry has a new task: The Internet of Medical Things. MRI machines, x-ray machines, and heart monitors, just to name a few, are devices that can now be infiltrated threatening the vital care of a patient.

The Solution

Most of the current IoMT devices were not intended to have a high security-first position. They cannot support an agent to ensure their security. Healthcare organizations need an agentless resolution that can recognize the devices, their performance, and the networks to determine if a medical device has been compromised. They also need to be able to quickly disconnect the device from the network if it has been compromised.

Manufacturing

IoT has made the manufacturing world more efficient by providing access to vital data in real time. IoT sensors provide companies with the ability to monitor the temperature in food manufacturing, the performance of the production line, and track quantities of their product up to the minute. IoT improves the manufacturer’s production efficiency to cut costs and provide better quality.

The Risk

Manufacturing is a multifaceted progression that relies on numerous moving parts to keep running smoothly. When this progression slows or stops production, it will have a disastrous impact on profit and may cause long-lasting damage to the reputation of the product or brand. IoT streamlines manufacturing, however, since it is connected, it is also vulnerable to attack. Invaders can influence IoT devices to send bad data that affects quality or productivity, halt systems altogether, and stop productivity. Compromised IoT devices in the manufacturing sector allow hackers to gain access to the network and steal whatever data they want.

The Solution

What occurs in manufacturing settings is the reality that these smart devices and sensors were not originally designed with security in mind. Most of these devices are totally unmanaged when it comes to security. With no way to protect the IoT device directly, companies need a new approach to IoT security. Being able to monitor device behavior to detect when it is connecting to a hacker’s network is critical. Also, interacting with inappropriate devices or systems in order to identify suspicious or anomalous behavior will save the manufacturer from peril. Companies need a smart security solution that can see any IoT or unmanaged device, and respond automatically to ensure there are no interruptions of productivity.

Summary

The number of IoT attacks, and the damage that they have done, have both been gradually growing. IoT security requires businesses to be able to keep track of their device’s state, performance, vulnerability, history, and reputation. Visibility and monitoring can help companies detect potential attacks, but in order to prevent an attack, their security system must be able to control all wired and wireless connections in order to spontaneously block traffic or disconnect compromised devices. This IoT security solution must also be able to assimilate seamlessly with the company’s existing network hardware and software.

As companies realize the very real dangers of an IoT attack, they must work together to design and create security solutions that protect their bottom line.